Written by Terry Smith

Our site is reader supported so when you click a link to Amazon we may earn an affiliate commission.

UK’s best pond liners: Preformed, HDPE, EPDM, PVC, Butyl

This article was last updated on April 23rd, 2022 at 6:29 am

Building your very own garden pond is a rewarding project but does take a fair bit of time and effort – I’ve personally made and tested several pond liners in my lifetime. If done properly, you’ll be rewarded for all your efforts with a stunning water feature that you can set up some paving or decking nearby, and sit and listen to the running water with your pond filter box while you have your morning cuppa. On the other hand, rushing the job, not following a good plan from the start, and using the wrong materials, can quickly make all your hard work seem like a complete waste of time.

One of the main components of any long-lasting garden pond is a great pond liner. Yes, there are other things you need to make good choices about such as the water pump, but if you install a sub-par pond liner, it won’t be long before you see the water level dropping as it leaks through the liner and into the garden soil.

It can be hard to choose the best pond liners from the thousands of products on sale, especially as they can all look very similar, but if you know the right things to look out for, you can get through that minefield unscathed and get your hands on something that will last you for years.

Our pond liner buyer’s guide below will inform you about what pond liners do, why you need one, and what materials are available to you when you buy your own. On top of that, we have selected the products for our reviews that we think offer the customer the best value for money in their respective sub-categories. Those products are:

Best pond liners: my top picks from years of experience:

Bets pond liner (overall) and Best heavy-duty pond liner– Firestone PondEasy liner

Best preformed pond liner– Bermuda Sand preformed liner

Best budget pond liner– Swell UK pond liner

Best pond liner for koi- PondKraft pond liner

Best pond liner for wildlife- Pisces Epalyn EPDM pond liner

Best alternative budget pond liner– All Pond Solutions pond liner

First though, we thought we’d start by explaining to the uninitiated what a pond liner is and why you need one for your DIY project:

Pond liner buyer’s guide

Here are a few things to contemplate before dipping your hand in your pocket and buying your pond liner. Common sense has probably already made you think of these things, but we thought it wouldn’t hurt to remind everyone.

Pond liner thickness

There are lots of ways your pond liner can spring leaks. Stones and such can poke holes in it, it can over stretch and tear, and just deterioration from UV and cold-weather-enforced cracking can cause problems.

With this in mind, you should probably avoid using any liner that is less than 0.30mm thick, and ideally thicker than that. Common thicknesses to choose from are 0.35mm, 0.50mm, 0.75mm, and 1mm, but most budget products will be at the lower end of that scale. For larger ponds, I advise thicker pond liner and only use 0.30mm for small to medium sized projects.

Sometimes, the thicker pond liners can be less flexible or elastic and harder to install, but there are other variables that come into play like exactly which material the liner is made from, quality, etc. Thicker usually means heavier too which can affect the shipping costs, but on the plus side, the really thick liners might not require underlay, although I would still suggest putting underlay down anyway, just to make sure. A popular brand for pond liner underlay is pondXpert and you should be able to find this stuff easily enough:

Size

Most flexible pond liners are sold in large sheets, usually in squares or rectangular shapes. Often a product is available to buy in a wide range of sizes, such as 2.5m x 2.5m, 5m x 5m, etc. but some might only sell one size of sheet. The Pisces EPDM liner we feature in our reviews is available in various lengths but only one width of 4 metres.

Preformed pond liners are made from hard plastic and are already a set shape and size which varies from product to product. I’ve seen them from as small as 80cm x 60cm but they do come larger than that- the Bermuda Sand product measures 128cm x 84cm for example.

They can save you a lot of time and effort, and are very durable, but you won’t have the option to modify your pond later. Which brings us to our next topic

Modification

We all change our minds as time goes on, and having the option to change the size and shape of our garden pond is a good thing. As we mentioned above, preformed pond liners don’t allow this, but pretty much any flexible material will.

If using PVC liner sheets, you can simply attach them to each other using liner tape. It’s fairly easy, and works surprisingly well. Lining tape can also be used for thicker materials like EDPM, but you also have the option of cutting and heat welding EPDM and Butyl sheets together, and this is what I’d recommend if buying the Firestone EPDM sheets. Obviously, this gives you a more secure seal but it has to be done properly or you’ll damage the sheets and actually reduce the durability of the liner. It’s not difficult though, and I’ve done it plenty of times without any issues. Just watch this clip for an example of it:

What is a pond liner, why do I need one, and which is best for me?

Most pond liners are large sheets that are made out of various materials, such as PVC, HDPE, EPDM, and Butyl. These liners give you a lot of flexibility when it comes to fitting them to the shape of the hole that you’ve dug for your pond, but some materials are stronger than others, which we’ll go into a little later on in this article.

Another type of pond liner that you may come across is the preformed rigid type. Because this type of pond liner is a solid, plastic object (usually made from polyethylene), your pond will have to be made to match that shape and size. On the plus side, they are far less hassle to install and less likely to be punctured by sharp objects like stones. The properties make them an ideal pond liner for first timers. Just check out the excellent Bermuda Sand product in our reviews to see what we mean, or check this photo out-

So, why do you need a pond liner (of any kind)? Well, the main and most obvious reason is that you can’t have a pond without water, and no matter what kind of soil makes up your garden, it will not retain water on the surface for long without some help.

Pond liners can also give you a good base on which to layer substrate, and this can be really important for your pond dwelling plants. Some plants will actually do well using the liner itself as a substrate, but I like to add a little something extra to keep the water, plants, and fish, happy and healthy. It would take an entire article of its own to talk about the pros and cons of certain substrates, so I won’t go into great detail here and leave you to do a bit of your own research on the subject.

If you’re confident that you’ll be happy with your pond design for years and years to come, you also have the option of using concrete as your base. Concrete bottomed ponds will not be bothered by the things that can negatively affect plastic or rubber pond liners and are extremely durable – this also counts for water removal which can be controlled with a submersible pump easily – it won’t be affected by an algae cleaner either. The downside is that they are the most expensive and difficult to install properly.

The best flexible pond liner materials- EPDM vs Butyl vs PVC vs HDPE, etc.

There are a number of different materials that pond liners can be made out of, each with its benefits and flaws. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at them and compare them to give you a better all-round view of what’s on offer.

EPDM

EPDM stands for Ethylene propylene diene monomer, bit of a mouthful I’m sure you’ll agree, hence the acronym. Along with Butyl, it is one of the most popular materials when it comes to pool liners for larger ponds due to its flexibility and durability, but I’d say EPDM liners like our best overall pick- the Firestone PondEasy liner , are more popular than Butyl these days.

Being very rubber-like, EPDM can be a great choice for more complicated pond designs with lots of curves and corners as it can be folded as needed. Not only that, but just by using liner tape you can attach pieces to each other, something I found very useful when I decided to increase the size of a garden pond a number of years ago. You can heat bond EPDM sheets, but please be aware that it could damage the quality of the material when you do so if you don’t research how to do it properly.

Sealing EPDM pond liners is another thing you should look into before buying, and so, we have provided this link for you to watch:

Although more costly than plastic liners such as HDPE and LPDE , EPDM is very effective when it comes to holding water where it should, as long as you put down underlay first. This is because although EPDM is heavy and flexible, it can be punctured by sharp objects even though that isn’t as big a risk as with some of the other available materials, such as LDPE. On the plus side, it is resistant to UV and other weather-based damage, and will not harm your fish or plants.

Butyl

Similar to EPDM is Butyl, another pond liner with excellent resistance to UV damage and decent enough protection from cracking in cold weather. In fact, it is hard to find a pond liner material that can handle the temperature extremes at the high end of the thermometer like Butyl can. It is safe for fish, just like EPDM, but unfortunately shares its lack of resistance to chemicals and solvents too.

Butyl isn’t quite as flexible and stretchy as EPDM and some other pond liner materials, but it balances that out with top-notch puncture resistance and longevity. It is one of the materials that truly lives up to the ‘lasts 25 years’ claims made by manufacturers, and I can attest to this as I used it for my brother-in-law’s pond about a decade ago and it’s still going strong.

Lining your pond with Butyl will cost you a bit more than using EPDM or PVC, but the difference isn’t mind blowing, and as long as you don’t mind figuring out how to heat weld the sheets without damaging them too much, you can make it fit pretty much any shape of pond.

PVC

Using PVC pond liners can be a great expense-saving idea, as they tend to be the cheapest type to buy. Not only are they inexpensive, but they are actually better at resisting punctures and tears than EPDM pond liners, although thick EPDM like the Pisces Epalyn EPDM pond liner more than holds its own.

There is quite a variety in sizes and thicknesses to PVC pond liners too, giving you a lot of options. Like EPDM, PVC sheets can be easily fixed together using lining tape and are quite flexible in their own right.

On the other side of the coin, PVC sheets aren’t the best at dealing with weather damage, often cracking and eventually leaking after being exposed to too much direct sunlight or extreme temperature changes- something the UK is well known for and something I found out for myself after lining my very first ever pond with PVC.

Although some people use PVC liners in ponds with fish, I personally avoid them for this purpose as they can contain harmful chemicals, something that you don’t have to worry about with HDPE liners like the Swell product we picked as our best budget offering.. These chemicals are usually in very small amounts and not a threat to you and most wildlife, but for fish they can be deadly. If you’re only having plants in your pond though, they can be a good, low-budget choice.

I have to state here that not all PVC pond liners will still have traces of these chemicals and some are perfectly safe, but knowing which ones actually do or don’t isn’t an easy thing to achieve, and so I just advise being careful.

The following clip compares PVC liners to rubber-like products made from EPDM and shows both types being rolled out and installed:

HDPE

High Density Polyethylene, better known as HDPE, is a fantastic material for lining larger ponds. Although it is thinner and lighter than both EPDM and PVC, it is actually stiffer and this makes it better at resisting tears and punctures.

In addition to offering great puncture and tear protection, HDPE sheets are well known for handling both hot and cold weather conditions, although extremely high temperatures may cause expanding, and are often used for landfills due to the fact that they are not adversely affected by various chemicals.

Unlike PVC, HDPE is safe to use as a liner for fish ponds and is also extremely durable. You will have to pay a premium for all these great qualities, and that might put some first-time pond builders off, but it is a material to keep in mind for a future extension or rebuild.

HDPE isn’t the most flexible choice either, and this might make it a hard material to work with for beginners, especially if you have a complicated pond shape, but more advanced ‘pondeliers’ (yes, I just made that up) might choose it for its durability.

LDPE

So, if HDPE stands for High Density Polyethylene, I’m sure you can guess what LDPE is an acronym for. Yes, that’s right – Low Density Polyethylene.

It probably also won’t surprise you that LDPE isn’t as thick or stiff as HDPE, and therefore is more pliable and better for following the shape of the pond. Less stiffness also means less likelihood of cracking under stress.

On the other hand, LDPE is more easily torn than it’s thicker sibling, and although it is also resistant to UV, cold, and chemicals, it is not quite up to the same levels as HDPE. To end on a high note though- both HDPE and LDPE are safe to use in fish ponds such as with koi and goldfish, as can be seen with the PondKraft liner, and if set up properly and looked after, can last for well over 25 years.

Ok, now that we’ve filled your heads with all the essential information needed to buy the best pond liners, let’s take a peek at the products we picked out as the cream of the crop in the following reviews.

---